Dr. Emelyne Godfrey has reviewed Wendy Rouse’s history of the women’s self-defence movement in the USA for the academic journal Martial Arts Studies. Dr. Godfrey’s review is available as a free, downloadable PDF via this link.
Just a reminder that the 2011 documentary Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes cannot legally be screened at venues such as public libraries, nor at events such as steampunk conferences, martial arts seminars, etc. without the express permission of the producers.
Here’s the Motion Picture Association of America’s advice:
The Federal Copyright Act (Title 17 of the US Code) governs how copyrighted materials, such as movies, may be used. Neither the rental nor the purchase of a copy of a copyrighted work carries with it the right to publicly exhibit the work. No additional license is required to privately view a movie or other copyrighted work with a few friends and family or in certain narrowly defined face-to-face teaching activities. However, bars, restaurants, private clubs, prisons, lodges, factories, summer camps, public libraries, daycare facilities, parks and recreation departments, churches, and non-classroom use at schools and universities are all examples of situations where a public performance license must be obtained. This legal requirement applies regardless of whether an admission fee is charged, whether the institution or organization is commercial or nonprofit, or whether a federal or state agency is involved.
Willful infringement of these rules is a federal crime carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years in jail and/or a $250,000 fine. Even inadvertent infringement is subject to substantial civil damages.
If you wish to arrange a public screening of Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes, please contact Tony Wolf via info(at)tonywolfsystem.com for further details.
By 1907 the art of jiujitsu was becoming thoroughly integrated into English popular culture. It had been written into plays and novels and was the subject of greeting cards, jokes and cartoons. It also remained a successful “draw” in the music halls, both in terms of the challenge contests offered by Japanese professionals such as Yukio Tani and Taro Miyake and as a form of performing art in its own right.
The Olympians were an itinerant troupe of music hall athletes who toured their jiujitsu self-defence act between 1907-9. The team of four male and four female performers was led by a Mr. George Mortimer and billed as having appeared “before Royalty”. Notably, their act included explanations of the principles of jiujitsu as well as exhibitions of its practice, recalling E.W. Barton-Wright’s early demonstrations of the art for groups such as the Japan Society.
Andres Morales (in the fencing mask with white trim) demonstrates the Vigny style in action against an opponent using a more generic style in this recent sparring match:
In this clip Mr. Morales takes on two opponents at once, fighting on uneven terrain and through the obstacle of overhanging tree branches:
An academic exhibition of the manly art of pugilism from a 19th century history event in Seattle. Note the use of the milling guard with elbow covers rolling into the “chopper” (back-fist or hammer-fist) punch, which was part of the London Prize Ring style and fell out of favour with the requirement of wearing large gloves under the Queensberry Rules. Likewise, frequent entries into throwing range were very much a part of the LPR style.
This article from the Pall Mall Gazette of March 17, 1922 offers self-defence advice according to the system of Professor Padian, who is described as “the Master at Arms of Mackenzie’s Dancing Academy”. Archive searches have revealed no further trace of the Professor, nor of his “system of protective movements”, which clearly owed a good deal to jiujitsu atemi-waza.
It may be noteworthy that the then-recently formed British Ju-Jitsu Society published an undated pamphlet on the subject of “Nerve Pinches and Blows”.
Members of l’Ost du Griffon Noir historical martial arts club in Toulouse, France pose in quasi-Edwardian garb after a recent Bartitsu seminar. The club has been offering periodic Bartitsu training sessions for several years, along with their ongoing courses in historical European longsword and rapier fencing, gladiatorial combat and wrestling.
By 1905 the novelty of mixed-style wrestling matches was beginning to wear thin for London music hall audiences, so some creative developments were deemed to be in order. Thus, the invention of “aerial wrestling” by some unknown hero of lateral thinking.
The rules of the new sport were simple enough. Two teams of six female athletes each – at least notionally representing England and the United States, respectively – were to compete in a contest of agility and endurance upon a unique and curious piece of gymnastic equipment. The “Ladies’ Aerial Wrestling Apparatus” consisted of twelve long poles, suspended vertically from a ladder-like arrangement that was secured high above the stage. Each pole was studded with a series of three small round wooden platforms, spaced about 3 feet apart, which could be used as (somewhat precarious) hand- and foot-holds.
At the referee’s signal, there commenced a free-for-all scramble to claim the greatest possible height on a pole, at which point the object of the game was to “wrestle” members of the opposing team off their poles. The favoured and most common technique was to swing one’s legs up and capture the opponent’s head and shoulders in a type of scissor hold, at which stage one could endeavour to force them to slide down and off their pole through sheer body weight. However, the pole-wrestler caught by the scissor grip might be able to break the hold and escape by swinging to an adjacent pole.
Occasionally, two opposing pole-wrestlers would fall together – one hopes that the stage below was well-padded. The most exciting scenario, according to one reporter, occurred when a single, agile wrestler who was the last woman of her team to remain undefeated was pursued by several members of the opposing team and still managed to win the day. Some Aerial Wrestling matches reportedly lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes.
Billed variously as being managed by “Madame Roma”, “Madame Kotka” and “Madame Denny”, the Aerial Wrestling Girls enjoyed a period of success during 1905, touring the various London music halls and then venturing further afield to the Oxford Town Hall and other provincial venues. One of them also made the newspapers for reportedly using her wrestling skills in fending off the attentions of an unwelcome admirer, as recorded in the Derry Journal of 13 September, 1905:
Over the past ten years or so, the martial arts of Bartitsu and (especially) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “baritsu” have been incorporated into numerous Sherlock Holmes pastiche stories. Frequently, Holmes’ antagonistic skills are given but a passing mention, but some storytellers have produced tales in which the Great Detective’s fighting prowess is brought front and centre. Most notable among these is the Fight Card series of boxing-themed Holmes stories, now gathered into an omnibus edition for the first time.
Queensberry Justice collects all three extant Fight Card novelettes – “Work Capitol”, “Blood to the Bone” and “A Congression of Pallbearers” – and also includes no less than three new short stories, detailed introductory essays, cover galleries and more besides. Although the gloved and bare-knuckle styles of boxing take precedence, the stories also feature baritsu, cane fighting and even historical fencing via the mysterious Kernoozers Club!
The Queensberry Justice omnibus is recommended to all fans of the genre and is available here in both print and ebook editions.
Although Emily Diana Watts’ Fine Art of Jujutsu was first published in 1906, Self Defense for Women (1914) may well have been the first booklet written by a female author to specifically deal with jujutsu as self-defence for women, as distinct from treating it as an athletic accomplishment.
Nohata Showa was the pen-name of Nobatake Yaeko. Her booklet is a short compendium of martial arts techniques selected to be of particular use to women who are attacked by men:
The fundamental (principle) of Jujutsu is to use the opponent’s power. You can win by moving nimbly at the right time, without using much power. Should you ingrain these techniques into your body, even a cute weak girl can wrap up a large man and achieve a win!
She also wrote that:
While I was returning to my abode from running an errand just the other night I encountered a frightful situation. I was able to imitate the handful of Jujutsu moves I learned and, despite my slight form, was able to avoid falling prey to a dastardly scoundrel. It was an absolutely thrilling experience.
Additionally, Showa referred to the foundation of a Women’s Self Defence League:
Should any reader of this book have, by chanced toppled, restrained or otherwise through self-defense measures thrown a ruffian or [man] attempting mischief, this organization will award you … a large certificate reading “Meiji Imperial Achievement Award”.
Given the time she was writing, it’s possible that Showa was inspired by the Suffragettes Self Defence Club of London, which was organised by Edith Garrud under the auspices of the Women’s Freedom League from circa 1909 onwards.
The newly translated, full-colour edition of Self Defence for Women is now available here.
